1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to firearms and, more particularly, to a safety system for a firearm.
2. Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,153 discloses a firearm safety system which can communicate with a programming unit. U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,818 discloses a firearm with a timer preventing a firearm from being fired again. U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,915 discloses a firearm which recognizes a hand print of an authorized user. U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,464 discloses an audio controlled gun locking mechanism.
Firearms, rifles and handguns are potentially dangerous mechanisms especially if misused. During the past centuries of firearm development mechanical safeties have been employed to help prevent the accidental firing of a weapon. Recently there has been a call for technologies which prevent a gun from being used by unauthorized users.
The goal of such technology is that a gun could be stored in a person's bedroom, for example, and be available for personal defense against intruders. However, the same weapon stored in such a manner cannot be used by other unauthorized members of the household, for example, children. Similarly, if the gun is taken from its storage location or from the owner, it cannot be used against members of the household. Ideally the gun would also be rendered useless by unauthorized users outside of the home or business.
The first such examples of trying to limit the use of guns to authorized users are gun safes. These are safes which permit the introduction of guns and can be locked. Unlocking the safe is either by putting the proper combination into a combination lock or by using a key or both by authorized users. The disadvantage is that it takes too long to get to the safe and unlock it if an intruder is detected. Once a gun is taken from the safe and if it is not returned, others can gain access and improperly use the gun. Additionally, the gun can be taken from the user and used against him or her. Finally, if an unauthorized person in the household or the business can gain access to the combination or the key, he/she can gain access to a loaded weapon for improper use.
Another example of an attempt at making guns safer from unauthorized users is the use of gun locks. Gun locks are separate devices which are added to the guns and can be locked by key or combination lock. The user unlocks the gun lock and the gun is available for normal use. The problem is that it takes time to find the key or put in the combination number. Once the gun is unlocked it can be taken from the user and used against him or her. Additionally, if the gun is put down and not locked, it can be used against the user. Finally, if an unauthorized person in the household or business can find the key or the combination, he/she can gain access to the weapon and use it improperly.
The next common attempt at providing gun safety is through the use of lockable boxes. Lockable boxes are containers which hold the guns and can be locked by a combination lock or keyed lock. Applying the combination or the key to the lock unlocks the box and makes it available for use. The disadvantage is that it takes too long to unlock the box if an intruder to the household or business is detected. Once a gun is taken from the safe and if it is not returned, others can gain access and improperly use the gun. Additionally, the gun can be taken from the user and used against him or her. Finally, if an unauthorized person in the household or the business can gain access to the combination or the key, he/she can gain access to a loaded weapon for its improper use.
An example of a gun system for authorized users are magnetic locks which prevent a gun from being fired unless the user is wearing a specially magnetized ring. This device has many shortcoming including unreliable operation, the disadvantage of not being able to be fired from either hand, and many users do not want to have to wear a ring on any hand.
Another proposal is that of a mechanical combination integrated into the gun. This has the disadvantage of being impractical to build into a gun for providing a locking mechanism that is unlocked by the combination. Once the gun is unlocked, it must be manually locked otherwise it will be left in an unsafe condition. If a criminal takes an unlocked gun from the user it remains unlocked. Additionally, if an unauthorized person in the household can gain access to the combination is can be unlocked and used improperly by the unauthorized person.
Another proposal is that the gun is electromechanically locked and will not be capable of being operated unless it is in the appropriate proximity of a radio frequency transmitter. This transmitter could be in a watch, ring, or wristband. The disadvantage of this approach is that it requires wearing a watch, ring or wristband. If an unauthorized person in the household or business can gain access to these items they can improperly use the weapon. Additionally, building radio transmission equipment for close proximity to weapons firing results in loss of reliability and longevity of service.
Another proposal is that the gun is electromechanically locked and will not be capable of being operated unless an appropriate fingerprint is detected. The problem with this approach is that is does not work with persons wearing gloves, requires alot of onboard processing and data collection, and it is difficult to build robust enough to withstand day-to-day carrying use, such as by a police officer. Fingerprint processing is an intense computation difficult to package in the small locations available on a gun and with the limited electrical power capacity. Additionally, once the gun has been armed it remains so even if taken away by an intruder. A big concern of this design is that the technology will not positively identify the authorized person reliably enough and fast enough to insure that the gun is available for personal defense.
In general, all of these previous approaches have shortcomings for the application of improving the safety of firearms. Each suffers from one or more of the following disadvantages:
(a) Access to the gun is clumsy and slow making it less suitable for personal defense from intruders; PA1 (b) Once the gun is unlocked it can be set down and used by an unauthorized person unless it is specifically locked by the authorized person; PA1 (c) An unauthorized person can gain access to the combination of the lock or the key of the lock and use the gun improperly; PA1 (d) Once the gun has been unlocked a criminal can take the gun away from the authorized user and use the gun against him/her; PA1 (e) Users may not want to wear rings, watches, or wristbands; PA1 (f) Users may want to wear gloves; PA1 (g) Onboard processors of sensor data for biometric identification measures (e.g., fingerprints) are difficult to built on a gun with close proximity to the explosions of the gun firing; PA1 (h) Locating onboard processors for processing is difficult to perform in the compact locations available on a gun with limited power; PA1 (i) Processing of fingerprints and other biometric identification measures to identify an authorized user is difficult to perform reliably to insure that unauthorized users can not also gain access while reliably positively identifying authorized users.